Fleece Batman Costume Tutorial

It’s a bird! It’s a plane! It’s…… wait, wrong super hero.

Na na na na na na na na BATMAN!!!

There, that’s much better.

Thomas has gone between three costume ideas since June. Batman, Darth Vader and Elsa. He already has a pretty sweet Darth Vader shirt I made from the Boardwalk Hoodie and Henley, and well, Elsa for a boy would be a trick in itself. Finally, he went with Batman! (with hopes and expectations that he would be able to fly. YIKES!!) After that was decided, we had to decide on WHICH Batman to be. There are so many versions of Batman! When I asked him which he wanted, he told me the “gray and blue one!” Perfect! So we went with the original Adam West look from the comics. I love that he gets to be Batman and he doesn’t look the same as the other Batmans who will be ringing door bells on Halloween.

The base of his costume is the Alex and Anna Winter PJs. They are completely made of antipill fleece, well except the cuffs and neckline. Those are cotton knit interlock. I made no modifications on the size. I would normally make him a size 6 and that is what I made him for the costume. He is rather skinny. He has a 19.5″ waist at 43″ tall. So if you have a more average child, you may want to upsize one size.

To replicate the look I have done here, you will need:

Alex and Anna Winter PJs PatternSuper Kid Cape PatternAntipill fleece in light gray and aqua/turquoise, and yellow
Quilting cotton in black and turquoise
Bat Signal picture (googling Adam West Batman symbol will give you plenty to choose from)
Iron (yep, we will be ironing fleece)
Heat and Bond
Scrap pieces of iron on interfacing
Sharpie or pen for tracing
Paper for pattern drafting (I used a roll of craft paper, after I ran out of freezer paper.)
3/8″ elastic
1 1/2″ wide elastic
Snaps or velcro
And basic sewing supplies

All set? Let’s do this!

Cut out your shirt just like the tutorial in the pattern states. Before assembling, we are going to make the Batman emblem on the chest.

Start out by tracing your Bat Signal onto the Heat and Bond to create your applique.

(I print in gray scale.)

Cut out the shapes, but NOT along the lines you drew, cut around them leaving a margin.

Carefully, and I mean carefully!, iron your traced shapes onto the wrong side of the fleece. Use a lower heat setting, I used the synthetics setting on my iron. And try to keep the iron on the paper only. I did not melt any fleece doing this, but I can’t stress enough to be careful! Use a pressing cloth if you are nervous. It doesn’t take much heat or time at all to adhere the heat and bond, so use a quick touch. Once cool, cut it out along the lines you traced.

Now, we are going to assemble the applique. Peal the paper off the back of the bat shape and place it wrong side down onto the right side of the yellow oval. Here, a picture helps.

You will need a bit more heat and pressure to adhere the appliques together, so use a pressing cloth and iron the bat to the oval. It doesn’t need to be completely adhered, just enough so it doesn’t shift when sewing. Focus on the wing tips. I didn’t melt anything, but be careful and use quick iron sessions. (And I’m a rebel and used high heat for this. I’m NOT telling you to do the same, just letting you know that I walk the line of dangerous crafting to keep you from ruining your applique.)

Now remove the paper from the back of the oval and place the applique on the chest of the front piece of the pajamas. Iron on in the same manor. You will need to do several quick iron sessions to get it to stick. Just focus on the edges so it doesn’t shift when you sew.

Tada! Now you have your applique ready to stitch in place.

Using a straight or zig zag stitch, sew along the inside edges of both the bat and the oval, in matching thread, securing it in place. Be sure to drop the needle when you pivot to make the turns. I went with a straight stitch that was just a bit longer than my normal topstitching length.

That’s is! Now just follow the rest of the instructions for sewing the shirt portion of the pajamas.

BAM! POW! We are ready to draft some pants!

Take the pants pattern and fold it in half length wise matching up the inseams.

Measure 1 1/2″ down from the top of the pattern piece onto the outseam. This shows you the top of the finished waist after you have sewn the elastic in and folded it over.

Next, I measured 4″ down from the mark made showing the finished waist height. This 4″ is how wide the “visible underwear” will be after the pants are constructed. You may want a smaller or larger look depending on the size you are making. I made a size 6.

Make a mark 1″ from the top of the inseam portion of leg of the pants.

Draw a line from the second mark you made on the outseam (the one marking the bottom of the “underwear”) to the mark made on the inseam of the pattern. Make a note on both sides of the line to add seam allowance! Cut apart your leg pattern piece along this line.

In an effort to not having a million of pictures showing where to measure and mark, I have one picture showing all the markings. It looks crazy, but it isn’t. Just follow along with the numbers.

Welcome to your new pattern pieces!

Place the new “underwear” pattern piece onto your fabric. Using a straight edge, add 1/4″ seam allowance to the pattern piece. Cut out your new pattern pieces.

Repeat with the new “lower leg” pattern piece. Be sure to use a straight edge to add in the seam allowance!

You will need a mirror image pair of each piece so you have two legs. Pair them up after you are done cutting so you don’t get them confused.

Pin your underwear portion to your lower leg, right sides together starting in the center, then pin the ends and work your way in. These will not lay flat once pinned. Repeat with the other leg.

Sew together using the 1/4″ seam allowance you created when you cut out your pieces, rounding out the V in the center as you go. To round out the V, don’t drop your needle and pivot at that center point, instead curve around it treating it as a U. Repeat with the other leg.

Topstitch the seam upwards towards the waist. If your seam is wonky, steam it, but do NOT press your iron to the fleece. Just let the steam hit it.

Now you have a two leg pieces that have the same shape and size as the original leg pattern pieces. From this point you continue with the original pattern tutorial.

Isn’t that easy! You can use this to do a variety of super hero looks. Or a ballerina even! White “tights” portion and a pink “underwear” part with a tutu pulled over would give you a warm and cozy ballerina costume.

KAPOW!! Ready for the gauntlets?

These are super easy!

Measure your child’s arm starting at the wrist. I wanted the inside of my gauntlet to measure 6″ and the outside to measure 7″. Batman has an asymmetrical gauntlet.

Like my ruler? I couldn’t find the tape measure. Some little boy I know likes to steal it and use it as a lasso. Yes, I have bought him his own tape measures and he even has a length of rope that is his lasso, but he keeps finding mine. Other people’s things are always better, right?

Anyway…… lay out the sleeve of the pajama pattern onto your paper. We are going to be creating a pattern.

Remember to add 3″ to the bottom of the sleeve to account for the length added by the cuff. I am drafting for a size 5/6 child. Draw a line 6″ up the fold of the sleeve pattern piece and another line 7″ up the outside of the sleeve.

Connect the two sides. This is the base of your gauntlet piece. You will cut out 2 of these on the fold.

Time to design the accents, spikes, what are those things coming off the side of Batman’s gauntlets? I’m going with accents. There are three of them on each gauntlet. Freehand the accent. It’s easy! It’s a slight curve. Mine measures 1 1/2″ wide at the edge that attaches at the seam and is over all 2 1/2″ long. I drew a slight curve and then marked out a few dots 1 1/2″ below it following along the curve. Don’t stress it too much.

Cut out six mirror image sets of these accent pieces. You will have 12 pieces.

Sew the accent pieces, right sides together, along the curved sides. I used a 1/4″ seam allowance. Leave the straight side open for turning. Trim the seam allowance of the point and turn right side out. Use a knitting needle, dull pencil, something, to get that tip pushed out.

Arrange three accent pieces on each gauntlet along the edge. I started about 1″ from the top. Baste in place.

Fold gauntlet in half, right sides together, and sew seam using a 1/4″ seam allowance. If you are more comfortable with 1/2″ that is fine too.

Because the original sleeve of the pajama pattern is drafted to be pulled in with a fitted cuff, you may need to take in the wrist of your gauntlet. To do this, while the gauntlet is inside out, simply sew starting an inch from the wrist end diagonally away from the seam towards the wrist’s edge. I took mine in about a 1/2″. You can then tack the extra bit of fabric to the side. Finish the other end by tacking the seam down in the same direction with a quick zig zag stitch.

BAM! Gauntlet is finished!

Now for those awesome shoe covers. These would come in handy with so many different costumes. And they are sew easy to do!

We have some pattern drafting to do. Measure your child’s leg (or yourself, you can always make yourself some killer shoe covers for a costume!) Take the measurement from the ground up. Add a 1/2″-1″ to the length you want your shoe cover to be. You will loose a bit of height with the way the shoe cover wraps under the shoe. I went with 7″ for the back seam measurement and 8 1/2″ for the point in the front.

Just like we used the sleeve to make the gauntlet pattern, we are going to use the leg to make our shoe cover. Place the pattern piece on your drafting paper with the bottom of the leg 3″ from the edge of the paper to account for the length added by the cuff. Using a ruler, add 1/2″ to the width of the pattern and draw a line on each side of the leg to your desired height for the back seam of the shoe cover. My back seam is 7″ tall.

Remove the original patter piece. Find the center between the lines you drew, mark it at the bottom, and make a mark at the desired height for the front point of your shoe cover. My mark is at 8 1/2″. Connect your mark to the lines to create the shape below.

Measure the width of the shoe at the widest point. Divide this measurement in half and make a mark on your pattern piece equal to this measurement on one side of the center mark. (see picture above)

Measure the height of the shoe. Mark this measurement above the center mark on the pattern piece. My son’s shoe is tall measuring at 4″. Draw a curve connecting the mark for the width and the mark for the height. You are only drawing in one side of the foot hole.

Cut out your pattern piece along the outer lines. Then fold in half to cut the curve. This gives you an even curve for the foot.

Measure the curve you created.

Mine is 9″. You don’t have to be exact. Round up to the nearest 1/2″. Using this measurement, draw a line. Place your shoe in the middle. Arrange it so that where the front of the foot hole is on the line you drew. Draw a very generous curve around the shoe. The thicker your shoe is, the more generous you need to be.

Fold your paper in half. Line up the ends of the straight line you drew. Then cut around your curve. This will give you an even pattern piece.

This is what your two pattern pieces will look like after they are cut out. Cut out two of each from your fabric.

Find the center of the curve of the boot upper and the center of the straight edge of the foot piece. Mark each with a pin.

Line up the centers right sides together. Pin the ends together. Sew around the curve easing the seam together as you go.

Right sides together, line up the back seam and sew.

Starting at the back seam, on the wrong side, tack down your elastic and using a long zig zag stitch, sew in place around the bottom of the shoe cover, stretching the elastic as you go.

Now you have a scrunched up boot! Using the width of your shoe as a guide, cut a piece of 1 1/2″ wide elastic. Sew it to the bottom of the shoe cover up towards the toes. Don’t sew it too far to the middle or it will be very difficult to get on. Yippee! You have a shoe cover!

On to the utility belt! KAPOW!!

This is very easy! My son has a 19 1/2″ waist and these measurements are for him. Adjust as you need to for your kid.

Cut from fleece the following pieces

Fold the belt in half length wise right sides together. Using a 1/2″ seam allowance, sew along the long edge leaving the two ends open. Carefully iron interfacing onto the ends. Be sure to use a low heat setting. Turn right side out and sew ends closed.

Pair up your buckle and “tool” pieces. Sew around all four sides with wrong sides together using a 1/4″ seam allowance. Attach the bat in the same manor as the applique on the shirt. Be sure to use a low heat and a pressing cloth! Arrange the belt accessories on the belt, centering the buckle and placing the “tools” on either side. Sew the accessories to the belt following the stitches from the previous step. Attach snaps or velcro to the ends. I went with snaps because velcro tends to get threads and fuzz in it at my house. 😉

Add a super sweet cape and you are set! Of course, Peek-a-Boo has a fabulous FREE cape pattern over in the shop. Just draw out some scallops on the hem and you have a distinctive Batman cape.

There you have it! A one of a kind, warm and cozy Batman costume! And after Halloween is over, you have the coolest and warmest pair of pajamas a kid could want!

Holy tutorials, Batman! That was a long one! But we covered a TON of fun elements you can use in so many costumes! For more action shots of Batman, pop over to Handmade Boy. He had a ton of fun with this photo shoot! If you make a costume of your own, be sure to share it on Peek-a-Boo’s Facebook page! I’d love to see it! There is also a contest going on using Peek-a-Boo patterns to create Halloween costumes you can enter into over there. So many great costumes have already been added! Make sure you add yours too by end of day 10/24 for a chance to win a fabulous prize!

Primary Sidebar

Footer

Contact

Archives

Archives

Copyright

All content and images are copyrighted and property of Peek-a-Boo Pattern Shop LLC. You may use ONE photo if it includes a link back to the post. You may not re-post multiple photos from a single post or re-post content. Please contact me for all other inquiries. Please also review our Privacy Policy.